


Choosing Forever

by felineranger



Category: Red Dwarf
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 11:22:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13786527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felineranger/pseuds/felineranger
Summary: Sooner or later, the Count will need to make a choice.Remix of ‘Blood Of The Smegged’ by Janamelie and Lord Valery Mimes





	Choosing Forever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Janamelie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janamelie/gifts), [LordValeryMimes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordValeryMimes/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Blood of the Smegged](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10937616) by [Janamelie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janamelie/pseuds/Janamelie), [LordValeryMimes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordValeryMimes/pseuds/LordValeryMimes). 



> Sorry, it’s late. I hope it’s worth the wait....

Darkness fell across the Carpathian mountains; the last purple blush of twilight ebbing away to leave the sky a deep midnight blue, the colour of the darkest sapphires. The first stars looked faint and tiny, more plentiful and yet at the same time more distant than they’d ever seemed in London; as though Lister were viewing them from a different planet instead of a different country.  He pulled the heavy fur cape he wore more snugly around his body to keep out the cold. High up here on the balcony of the top tower, the bitter mountain wind had a cruel bite.

The forest that stretched out below and surrounded the castle - covering the craggy landscape as far as the eye could see - was a mass of shadow now; black instead of green. Hidden within its depths, the creatures of the night were beginning to stir. Owls. Wolves. Bats. On the wind there was the haunting screech of cats. Lister smiled faintly to himself. It was a strange experience to feel so at home in a place that was in many ways so alien to him.

“I wish those things didn’t make such a god-awful smegging racket,” a voice behind him grouched.  
Lister’s smile broadened, “You can come out now. It’s dark.” He heard the soft rumple of fabric behind him as the curtains parted and the Count joined him on the balcony, the silver moonlight illuminating his pale skin. “You’re up early.”  
“I could sense you out here. Your heartbeat has the most unique rhythm. It’s like it’s calling to me.”  
“It is.” Lister held out one hand, using the other to keep the cape wrapped tight.  
Rimmer took the offered hand in both of his. “You’re cold.”  
“Only a little.”  
“What are you doing out here?”  
“What do you think? Waiting for you.”  
“It’s freezing.”  
“I was watching the sunset.”  
“Ah, see you _would_ miss some things about being human.”  
“I’ve gained a new appreciation for sunsets recently it seems.” Lister stepped into the Count’s arms and rested his head on his shoulder. “They mean it’s almost time for us to be together. Otherwise, I couldn’t care less. But seeing as you brought it up...”  
“David, we’ve talked about this. This isn’t something that you - or I - should be rushing into.”  
“We love each other. What else matters?”  
“Not much. Only a few minor things like, hmmm...your immortal soul, perhaps?”  
“My immortal soul belongs to you. Along with my heart, and every fibre of my being, down to the last drop of my life’s blood.” He felt Rimmer catch his breath at the words, then force a soft laugh. “You are without a doubt the most ridiculously romantic fool that ever lived, David Lister.”  
“Don’t laugh at me. I mean it.”  
“Maybe. But those flowery words aren’t going to get you your way. Not tonight.”  
“Then when?”  
“I don’t know.”

Lister looked up into his face. “What if something were to happen to me? I’m a squishy fragile human, I could die at any minute, you know.”  
“Try not to.”  
“I’m serious. If it came to it, if I was dying and you had to make a choice - turn me or lose me - would you do it?”  
“I don’t want to think about it.”  
Lister glanced back teasingly over his shoulder at the balcony ledge, “If I were to be clumsy and trip, for example...”  
Rimmer gripped him tightly, unamused. “Don’t get any silly ideas. If you fall from here there’s nothing even I could do to save you. They’d probably never even recover your body.”  
“Why do you say that?”  
“One of my ancestors flung herself from this very spot in the 14th century.”  
Lister’s playful expression disappeared. “For love?” he asked softly.  
Rimmer scoffed, “Hardly. Out of spite, more like. The official story is that she could no longer endure her husband’s cruelty, so took her own life to escape her suffering and shame him before the nation and God. Although, according to local legend, she was a vile vindictive creature and the Count threw her from the balcony himself to be rid of her poisonous presence.”  
Lister peered nervously over the stone at the unforgiving drop into the black ravine below and shuddered. He imagined a woman, tiny against this immense mountainous backdrop, her long dress billowing around her as she plummeted into the abyss. “Nice story,” he remarked weakly.

“They sent out a party of servants to find her remains and bring them back to the family crypt, but never found any trace of her. The Count claimed that the ground had opened up and she had plunged directly into Hell where she belonged.”  
“Charming.”  
“My family have a long and proud tradition of awfulness.”  
“You don’t _believe_ that though, do you?”  
“Of course not.”  
“You were fretting about my immortal soul just now.”  
“All I’m saying is I don’t think she took a nose-dive through a smegging vortex into the underworld. She probably landed in the river and got washed away, or dragged off by a hungry wolf.”  
“But...?”  
“The rules are very clear on what happens to suicides. And vampires.”  
“Smeg the rules. You’re not evil,” Lister insisted. “It’s not your fault this happened to you. You didn’t choose this life.”  
“But you _are_ choosing it. And if I allow it, if I choose to turn you and drag you down into this depravity with me, then I’m damning us both.”

Lister cuddled closer to him, unsettled. “I don’t care what you say. I don’t care what _anyone_ says. We’re supposed to be together. I know it. I _feel_ it.”  
The Count sighed and kissed the top of his head. “We can be. But just...maybe not forever. However wonderful that would be.” He looked out across the gloomy wilderness before them. “I for one am just looking forward to us settling into Le Nain Rouge and not having to put up with this awful caterwauling anymore.”  
“You know, funnily enough, I was just thinking how strange it will be going back. Everything about this place is so bizarre and dreamlike and overwhelming. Everything here is _more_. Little old England is going to feel very dull. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be too boring for you.”  
“Boring? With so much to see and do?”  
“Well, I suppose it’s different for you,” Lister allowed. “But to me, this place is magical. Werecats and all.”  
“Don’t _you_ start with the werecat business as well.”  
Lister looked up and smiled, “Any place you’re with me will be magical. Even smoggy old London Town.” He tilted his face up, inviting a kiss.

He felt the Count tense as their lips touched, every part of him noticeably stiffening. The strong hands tightened on his body, and a very select part of Lister began to stiffen too in response. He could read the signs well now; his lover had caught his scent. “Hungry?”  
“I’m fine,” Rimmer muttered reluctantly, kissing him again, “It will pass. It’s only because I’ve just awoken.”  
“Let me feed you.”  
“This is becoming a dangerous habit.”  
“I’m sure it’s not that dangerous. And it is so very enjoyable.” Lister pressed against him meaningfully.  
“It’s more dangerous than you seem to realise,” the Count reached tentatively inside Lister’s cape, and gasped suddenly. Lister gave a slow satisfied smile as realisation dawned on his partner’s face. “You’re...”  
“I told you I was waiting for you,” he purred. He let go of the front of the cape, letting it hang open. He was naked beneath. Rimmer gazed at him in awed desire, then pulled him close with a soft growl. “You are...unbelievable.” Lister felt the smooth velvet of the Count’s night robes against his bare skin, exquisite against the sensitive erect peaks of his nipples and cock. He nuzzled in against his neck, brazenly exposing his own in the process. “So are you.”

The longed-for sensation of the Count’s lips on his throat made him moan; the simple intimacy and eroticism of the small gesture heightened by the anticipation of something much more. The sharp gentle pressure of fangs pressing against his skin sent a thrill through him and his hips ground forward instinctively; longing for more in every sense. He curled his hands around the back of the Count’s head, fingers sliding into his hair, and drew him closer still. But although the teeth pressed harder, hard enough to hurt, the kiss did not become a bite. “Take me,” Lister whispered breathlessly, “Take whatever you need. I am yours.”  
“It’s too soon!” Rimmer whispered back, barely moving his mouth from Lister’s neck in order to speak. His lips were wet, his mouth watering. “You need more time to recover from last night.”  
“I need...” Lister breathed urgently, “...you to suck me until I’m light-headed and then make love to me until the sun rises.” He shrugged off the cape, letting it drop heavily around his feet, leaving him buck naked. “Drag me down into depravity with you, as far down as you can go, Arn,” he challenged. “I _like_ it.” The cold night air heightened all his senses further, making him quiver.  
“You’re going to catch your death,” Rimmer murmured sternly, enclosing him in a tight embrace and wrapping his own velvet cape around them both.  
“Maybe that’s the plan,” Lister whispered back.  
“Then I’ll just have to thwart it.”

The fangs broke through his skin in a sudden burst of pain and ecstasy. Lister cried out, his knees going weak. Rimmer held him upright, teeth still buried firmly in his neck, and Lister’s naked erection throbbed, twitching helplessly at the delicious sensation. “Yes!” he gasped out, “Oh smeg, yes!”

The Count scooped him up, still latched tightly to him, and carried him purposefully back inside the tower. As he lay him down across the sumptuous velvet couch, his cape covering them both, he retracted his fangs and began to suckle at the hot blood that flowed into his mouth. Lister’s body arched eagerly up beneath him. “I love you,” he whispered deliriously, “I love you so much, Arn.”

Eventually Rimmer forced himself to draw back. Lister pawed at him weakly, “Don’t stop.”  
“I have to.”  
“I can stand a little more.”  
“No,” Rimmer noted his weakness with concern, “You can’t.”  
“I’m fine. I can do this forever,” Lister told him dreamily.  
“No,” Rimmer repeated sadly, “You can’t. And you don’t understand what forever means.”  
“Then show me.”  
“You don’t know what you’re asking. Not really.”  
Lister reached up with trembling hands to cup his face. His eyes glowed golden in the lamplight, full of fiery determination. “I know forever is not long enough.”

Rimmer kissed him fiercely, and began to strip off his own clothes. Hard as it was to stop, he could at least exchange one form of intimacy for another. When they were both naked, and David was panting eagerly on the couch below him, he spread his thighs wide and buried his head between them, taking the proud firm cock into his throat as far as he could. Lister bucked and squirmed and moaned gratifyingly, and Rimmer was careful to keep his fangs out of the way, bar the odd teasing touch that made his lover tremble. The hot pulse of his orgasm when it finally came slaked some of the Count’s residual bloodlust. If he could not have his blood, he would have this. He would consume his lover’s essence in a different way, safe in the knowledge it could only bring him pleasure and not harm.

Many hours later, after the night’s bloody and bacchanalian delights had finally taken their toll and Lister had fallen into a deep peaceful sleep, Rimmer slipped away from his warm naked body in retreat from the rising sun. As he looked down at him, he was overcome with a wave of pure adoration that was frightening in its intensity. And he realised, with a vaguely sinking feeling, that Lister was right. Even forever would not be long enough.

“Oh smeg,”he whispered miserably to himself, gazing down upon Lister’s angelic sleeping face, and reaching down to gently stroke his cheek. “What the smegging smeg am I supposed to do?”


End file.
